Top soldier receiving award for wit (5)
I believe the answer is:
comic
'for wit' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'top soldier receiving award' is the wordplay.
'top soldier' becomes 'CIC' (commander in chief).
'receiving' indicates putting letters inside.
'award' becomes 'OM' (order of merit).
'cic' enclosing 'om' is 'COMIC'.
(Other definitions for comic that I've seen before include "Funny, laughable" , "Funny man, maybe stand-up" , "Funny man, often stand-up" , "Droll - comedian" , "Children's publication" .)